Bellflower Ca Schools

Duty calls on Sheriff's Deputy Bill Price to be a celebrity only once a year. If that means elementary school students get to romp through his patrol car, push all the buttons on his radio and lock his doors, so be it. Price says he doesn't mind because Sheriff's Day for students at Bellflower's Pace Elementary and an adjacent county-run school for disabled children teaches kids not to fear law-enforcement officials.

Fifth-grade teacher Joan Flax believes that adding real-life drama can spice up a history lesson. Her 31 students at Stephen Foster Elementary School spent Tuesday replicating the first Thanksgiving feast. The 10-year-old students dressed in period costumes began cooking at 8:30 a.m. and sat down to their feast of turkey, spoon bread, bear berry jelly, succotash and Indian pudding at noon.

Bellflower schools, which stand to lose a high school and three elementary schools if a district is created in Lakewood, will seek a court order blocking that move, officials said. "As representatives of our community, we have the obligation to ensure that everything that happens with our district is appropriate and legal," said board President Linda Devine.

A state appeals court has temporarily halted the proposed formation of a Lakewood school district until signatures on a petition can be verified. The proposed 22-campus district would be carved from four other districts that now serve children in Lakewood: ABC, Paramount, Bellflower and Long Beach Unified.

A Bellflower High School history teacher known for his inspired reenactments has been selected one of five California Teachers of the Year. Linwood Thompson, 44, a former drama teacher and onetime aspiring actor, was one of 12 Los Angeles County finalists to compete for the 1997-98 award. Thompson often dresses as Napoleon or Teddy Roosevelt to make history come alive for his students. On Tuesday, Thompson was in Sacramento meeting with Delaine Eastin, state superintendent of public instruction.

The Bellflower school board has voted 3-2 to provide health care benefits to any departing board member who has served at least 12 years. Under the new policy, which the board approved recently, eligible board members will continue to receive a full package of medical, vision and dental insurance from the date of their departure until they turn 65.

At least 250 Bellflower students staged a two-hour walkout Friday in protest of the firing of a popular security guard last week, school officials said. Students complained that Keith Castruita, a security guard at the school since April, 1988, was fired because he is Latino. Castruita, who said he was fired last Thursday because he failed to appear at a basketball game he was supposed to supervise, blamed "racial policies" for his termination.

Fifth-grade teacher Joan Flax believes that adding real-life drama can spice up a history lesson. Her 31 students at Stephen Foster Elementary School spent Tuesday replicating the first Thanksgiving feast. The 10-year-old students dressed in period costumes began cooking at 8:30 a.m. and sat down to their feast of turkey, spoon bread, bear berry jelly, succotash and Indian pudding at noon.

Classes have been canceled at Bellflower High School today because of a racially motivated fight among eight black and Latino students at the school, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said Thursday night. The campus was evacuated after the brawl, which erupted about 1:30 p.m. and involved no weapons, deputies said.

The Bellflower City Council Wednesday night agreed to put an advisory measure on the March ballot to survey city voters on whether they would support or oppose a proposed new school district in neighboring Lakewood. A 3-to-2 majority of council members backed the measure as an inexpensive way to warn residents about the potential side effects of creating a new district. They said an independent school district in Lakewood would mean overcrowding and school construction expenses in Bellflower.

A Bellflower High School history teacher known for his inspired reenactments has been selected one of five California Teachers of the Year. Linwood Thompson, 44, a former drama teacher and onetime aspiring actor, was one of 12 Los Angeles County finalists to compete for the 1997-98 award. Thompson often dresses as Napoleon or Teddy Roosevelt to make history come alive for his students. On Tuesday, Thompson was in Sacramento meeting with Delaine Eastin, state superintendent of public instruction.

Bellflower schools, which stand to lose a high school and three elementary schools if a district is created in Lakewood, will seek a court order blocking that move, officials said. "As representatives of our community, we have the obligation to ensure that everything that happens with our district is appropriate and legal," said board President Linda Devine.

Duty calls on Sheriff's Deputy Bill Price to be a celebrity only once a year. If that means elementary school students get to romp through his patrol car, push all the buttons on his radio and lock his doors, so be it. Price says he doesn't mind because Sheriff's Day for students at Bellflower's Pace Elementary and an adjacent county-run school for disabled children teaches kids not to fear law-enforcement officials.

The Bellflower City Council Wednesday night agreed to put an advisory measure on the March ballot to survey city voters on whether they would support or oppose a proposed new school district in neighboring Lakewood. A 3-to-2 majority of council members backed the measure as an inexpensive way to warn residents about the potential side effects of creating a new district. They said an independent school district in Lakewood would mean overcrowding and school construction expenses in Bellflower.

A divided Bellflower school board has approved health care benefits for any retiring board member who serves 12 years or more, triggering protests from district employees. Under the new policy, which the board approved last month by a 3-2 vote, board members who serve 12 years or more will continue to receive a full package of medical, vision and dental insurance from the date of their departure until they turn 65.

The Bellflower school board has voted 3-2 to provide health care benefits to any departing board member who has served at least 12 years. Under the new policy, which the board approved recently, eligible board members will continue to receive a full package of medical, vision and dental insurance from the date of their departure until they turn 65.

School officials closed Bellflower High School on Friday as a precaution against a repeat of fighting that erupted on campus Thursday. Administrators said they hoped that the day off followed by spring break next week will cool tensions at the school. "The school is going to figure out what the heck was going on there," said Bellflower Unified School District spokesman Mike Pratt. "We can't say for sure what started it."

School officials closed Bellflower High School on Friday as a precaution against a repeat of fighting that erupted on campus Thursday. Administrators said they hoped that the day off followed by spring break next week will cool tensions at the school. "The school is going to figure out what the heck was going on there," said Bellflower Unified School District spokesman Mike Pratt. "We can't say for sure what started it."